Ramandeep Singh

Recounting the positives from HIL Caravan!

~ Celebrating the mega festival of hockey called HIL, each year in India.

The first time finalists!

The 2017 edition of the Hockey India League (HIL) saw two new finalists in Kalinga Lancers and Dabang Mumbai. Mumbai were table toppers in the group stages. However, the Lancers beat the Dabangs of Mumbai 4–1 in the final to win their first title in the 5th season of the Hockey India League (HIL) in 2017. Punjab Warriors, the defending champions were however eliminated in the round-robin stage. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Wizards Team came from behind to defeat the Delhi Waveriders and claim bronze at the Coal India HIL 2017.

HIL

Kalinga Lancers were crowned champions of the 5th season of the Hockey India League (HIL) in 2017.

 

Appreciated from players, fans and veterans alike!

The overall quality and standard of play in this year’s HIL improved couple of notches from the last season. All the matches were high intensity and the level of competitiveness displayed by all the teams was top class. It was interesting to note that all teams were in fray for the semi-final spots till the last but penultimate day of the group stages. Here’s what Indian hockey legend, the triple gold medal Olympian Mr. Balbir Singh had to say on the grand finale and the HIL tournament in general.

The young guns

It was equally heartening to see local players being groomed into the clubs. A lot of them were fresh and buoyant from the Junior Hockey World Cup triumph and hence warranted a starting place in their squads.

Hon’ble Chief Minister (CM) of the state of Odisha, Mr. Naveen Patnaik felicitated the homegrown Odia players from Season 5 Champions Kalinga Lancers.

​Not only did the coaches rely heavily on the fresh homegrown talent, the crowd also cheered for India’s future superstars. They picked up a lot of motivation and enhanced their skills, rubbing shoulders with veterans from across the globe.

“Show me a player of Dipsan’s age who is playing at the top level in the world. There is none.” ~ The German captain Moritz Fuerste on quote.

A rock star in Delhi Waveriders’ solid defensive framework was Indian defender from the senior team Surender Kumar. Surender also played the Rio Olympics and here is his Season 5 campaign in numbers.

A rock star in Delhi Waveriders’ solid defensive framework was Indian defender from the senior team Surender Kumar. Surender also played the Rio Olympics and here is his Season 5 campaign in numbers.

Indian senior team defender Surender Kumar’s season in numbers

​And such performances at a big stage like HIL don’t go unnoticed these days. Roelant Oltmans, the senior national head coach fast tracked a majority of the young players to the 33 player core probables list.

Foreign connection in India

Each year, the HIL attracts the top talent from across the world where each team bids for marquee players to match their Indian counterparts; albeit this time as club-compatriots!

“We bonded very well. How we stayed as a team is something that I will take home as a fond memory.” ~ The Dabang Mumbai skipper Florian Fuchs on the amazing camaraderie within the camp at the Coal India HIL 2017.

They were bowled over by the hospitality, food, singing and dancing moments with teammates and above all the fan support they received. Here’s a short clip-compilation from some of the outgoing foreign players of Kalinga Lancers on the memories of HIL Season 5 that they will take along home.

Stats, awards and fun facts

It was goals galore at HIL as in the 34 matches played, there were in total 206 goals scored! The tournament’s top-scoring honours were shared by Glenn Turner and Moritz Fürste, both representing Kalinga Lancers’ and having scored 12 goals apiece.

​On the other hand, losing finalists and Dabang Mumbai’s captain Florian Fuchs was named the Player of the Tournament. It was double delight for veteran from Germany as he was also awarded with the Hero Achiever Award for Upholding the Spirit of Hockey!

Is there a trophy that Harmanpreet hasn’t won yet? Maturity and calmness personified, Harman bagged the ‘emerging player’ award. Interestingly he was also one of the five nominees for the 2016 FIH’s ‘rising star of the year’ award. The 21-one-year-old drag-flicker was the lynchpin of the Dabang Mumbai setupp scoring seven goals in the tournament.

Harman finishing his trademark drag flick!

“I am happy that my performance in the HIL remained decent and I contributed to my franchise making their maiden final. The enjoyment of the award would have doubled had we lifted the title.” ~ yet another rising Singh and his thoughts immediately after receiving the emerging player award!

Opportunity for some, no comeback for others!

Gurbaj Singh was the highest bid player at the HIL auction having being picked up by Ranch Rays. However, his team failed to qualify for the semis and his was an average performance. The subsequent rise of young players and the accompanying competition meant that the Punjab Police employee could not even feature in the 33 man core probables.

“The selection is not under my control. But what I can do is put my head down and work hard, and give my best in every match I play, be it the HIL, Malaysian League or a national tournament. It has always been my dream to play for my country and give 110 percent every time, and I hope to wear the national colours once again.” ~ Gurbaj on a possible call up in future.

What HIL means to Hockey India and its future

If India has realistic aims to be in the top three and win some major tournaments by the end of this year, the young players need to be given a chance. HIL has always promoted talent from the grassroots and we have seen many a small town players shine and do well.

It was encouraging to see Indian forwards, the likes of Akashdeep Singh of UP Wizards and Dabang Mumbai’s Affan Yousuf also featuring in the top 5 tournament goals scorers. The Indian forward line has been lacking the much needed firepower and goals upfront and the exploits of some of the players in HIL will help us in Azlan Shah and future tournaments of this year.

Moreover, the learnings are mutual as both set of players -Indian and foreign had plenty to give and take in the HIL. Foreign players were eager to pick up the ‘Indian Masala’ tricks whereas the Indians picked up composure in pressure situations and strategies from their counterparts. Let’s watch what they have to say in this video below.

http://www.hotstar.com/sports/hockey/hil-fuels-indian-hockeys-growth/2001901556

The fact that India would not be sending their junior team in the Sultan Johor Cup in Malaysia for the second year running has made it mandatory to also include the freshers to give them much needed game time and experience. The HIL has become the breeding ground for fresh talent and the fans are eager to see our stars in action soon!

Rise-up, pseudo represent your country at the next Olympics by supporting its athletes

An attempt to reach out to fellow passionate Indian sports fans!

The girl power of the largest Indian contingent at Rio Olympics 2016 led by flag bearer Abhinav Bindra.

 

A curated list of to-do’s to transform the Sports fanatic in you to the betterment of sports and support of our athletes.

Support your athletes through thick and thin

 

Accountability and acceptance

This is what Piers Morgans, a British journalist and television personality tweeted.

What followed next was a barrage of trolls and tweets trending him to numero one across India. Although, he is no one to troll us and, people are equally right to give him back. But, there is no denying the fact that we failed altogether as a sporting nation. 2 medals does no justice to our potential. However, it is perhaps apt for the sporting conditions we have in our country. It is high time we accept this and take constructive steps in this direction.

The blame game!

Another question that arises is – who is to be held responsible, the players or their federations? The recent OP Jaisha controversy, with players getting entangled with the federation is not an unfamiliar sight in Indian sports in the recent past. It shows how difficult it is to compete at the international level. Firstly to be skilled and secondly to have the mental perseverance to fight against your association, dearth of facilities, preferential treatment and politics to finally make it to the top level.

It is equally alarming that only 1 out of the 27 Indian sports bodies has an athlete at its helm (President). Neither is their working transparent nor is their funding, members and other facts made open to public. Read the whole article.

For any future hopes, these numbers have to change and quickly. Athletes like Abhinav Bindra, Yogeshwar Dutt and many others who have played the game should contest elections to foster any hopes of a transformation.

Talking about accountability, will the sports minister or the hordes accompanying him in the junket at Rio ever accept their follies? Never. They were busy in the carnival that they forgot there is a sporting event to attend as well! Worst still, they were the first ones to click selfies, and later reward the winning athletes so as to take some credit of their glory. And in doing so, they even forget the names of the athletes! Unfortunately, it shows how callous and insensitive they are when it comes to handling sports affairs.

Ace archer Deepika Kumari in action!

 

Change in culture

Sports until now is only a hobby, a pastime in school. Nowhere is sport urged to be taken up as a profession. There are some dedicated sports schools like the one by former cricketer Virender Sehwag which focuses on cricket. But too aim a medal, we need more of such schools and sporting facilities at the very ground level.

The USA or other countries that top the Olympic medal tally have a proper gymnastics setup to consider as an example, unlike India. You cannot get top notch athletes out of sheer grit and hard work a la Dipa Karmakar sans any sporting facilities. Not everyone can and will battle it out against all odds and compete against the worlds best in a sport that is not even heard off by many!

A holistic programme involving experts at every level should be immediately drafted. The athletes should not travel overseas to avail world class facilities. It should be made available closer, at home. The quality of training also needs to improve and so too the synergy between government, coaches, sporting centers and sportsperson. There should be sustained amount of investment in the form of sports development schemes through public-private partnership.

The awakening!

Taking stock of the current situation, the PM of India, Narendra Modi made an announcement that has been received well from all quarters of people. Here are the series of tweets.

The sports federations are doing a review to dissect the performances in Rio. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has already constituted a four-member committee to examine the reasons behind India’s poor show with Abhinav Bindra as its chairman. Also, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has hinted to go young at Tokyo 2020 and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has also started reviewing the performances in the track and field events.

Although it is heartening to hear about the Task force, who will be in the committee is equally important as we don’t want a committee that again constitutes of incompetent ministers.

Urgent and Immediate Action!!!

It is during such times that sports fans like you and me should take up responsibility. Although Tokyo 2020 is far, but we need to support our athletes right from the word go. Till the time we get the above things in place, we need to start thinking for our athletes. Because for the ministry and the federation, it doesn’t even matter! They will be the first ones to take credit for laurels our players have won but not owe any moral responsibility.

After all it affects us the most, doesn’t it? We are getting upset that we could only manage 2 medals in Rio Olympics 2016 when many expected a double digit tally or worse still to at least match up to that of the London Olympics. What can we do on our part apart from cheering our athletes at the games. Well, we all can contribute a little bit, monetarily and also by spreading this message. Lets get involved in filling these gaps till the time the whole system is revamped.

Here is a curated list of organizations that sports aficionados can help to start off with.
1. Contact someone who is working with sports at the ground level. For example, In Hockey one can contact K Arumugam Sir from One Thousand Hockey Legs (OTHL) NGO regarding the same.
2. Donate to the Viren Rasquinha led Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).
3. Contribute to the JSW Sports Excellence Program (SEP).
4. Petition to increase the funding and number of athletes picked in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) using the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) programme by the government.
5. Start a crowd funding program for an athlete.
6. Lets make sports an integral part of our lives. Don’t take up an Olympic sport, but do sports for fitness. The whole experience will be enriching and will help the sporting culture to rub in for generations to come.

Sakshi Malik, India’s first medallist with freestyle wrestling bronze.

The authorities have let them down, you shouldn’t! Transpire the passion and craving for Indian sports for the betterment of its athletes!
Note: I as an author do not have any affiliation with any of the aforementioned organizations!